All is Calm, All is Bright Until
by RainOrTears
Summary: Christmas themed. Holly visits Artemis and they figure something out that shocks them both. Only a couple more days left till Christmas! Complete. Please review!
1. The Ambush

**All is Calm; All is Bright…Until…**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl._

Artemis sat in his study, looking out the window. The ground was covered in a beautiful blanket of snow, untouched and still perfect. And then someone ruined his smile, and drove him into confusion. He stood up, and walked out onto the overhanging balcony, dismissing the urge to become warm again when he stepped into the cold. Underneath the balcony, someone had left footprints; this wasn't what confused him though. It was the fact that the footprints ended abruptly after spelling out a message oh so obviously for him.

_"Merry Christmas Arty!"_ was spelt perfectly in tiny footsteps across the surface of the snow. Artemis came to his conclusion rather quickly. The only three people in his life that a) could get past the gate without Butler knowing, and b) called him Arty without receiving a death wish, were Juliet, his mother, and one Miss Captain Holly Short. Since his mother was at the shopping mall buying presents, and wouldn't dream of doing that kind of thing to Artemis, he knew it wasn't her. Juliet was competing in a wrestling competition in America, so he mentally scratched her name too. And that left one. Before he could call her name, he felt a cold _tingle inducing_ snow ball hit the back of his neck, followed by fits of laughter, from none other than Holly Short herself.

Artemis found himself smiling as he turned around to face the Captain.

"Hello, Holly. Merry Christmas to you also."

As she controlled her laughter, she replied. "Sheesh, Artemis, always so formal." And as she walked forward to give him a hug, he stepped back. She laughed again. "Don't worry, I'm out of ammo." When he still looked skeptical, she raised her arms in peace. He nodded, and she walked up to him, arms still raised. As she stood on her tippy toes to embrace him, she felt a cold tingle run down her spine, and realized that Artemis had just crushed a snowball over her head.

She stepped back from him, a look of horror on her face. It was his turn to laugh. And as he shrugged, he chuckled, "I never said I was."

_This could be continued…but I think I'd need some encouragement. Reviews?_


	2. Surprise, Surprise

_I had some spare time, so I figured I would continue this…  
Disclaimer: Do you have to do a disclaimer in every chapter? Well just in case you do, and just in case you were wondering, I do not own Artemis Fowl.  
Oh, and beware, if you haven't read TTP then there's a slight spoiler in this. But seriously, who hasn't?_

_

* * *

_

Holly tried to glare at him, but when she realized that she would have done the same thing, she smiled.

"Good one." She said, her voice melting the snow with sarcasm. He shrugged again and walked back into the warmth of his study. As she followed suit, he asked a question that had been lingering in his mind since he had read her note.

"How long are you here for?" Settling himself on one of the chairs, he turned to face her.

"I dunno. It's my holiday vacation, and I was just completing the Ritual, so I thought, why not visit my favourite Mudmen?" She smirked.

"Point well taken, however I am unaware of where Butler is at the moment, perhaps making dinner." He replied more to himself than Holly. "Would you care to join us?"

Holly bit her lip. "Artemis you know I'd love to but, your family…" She let the sentence drift.

Artemis only put up his hand though to disregard her statement. "My father decided a few days ago that he wanted to take the twins present shopping, and is in London for two more days, and as we discussed earlier, my mother-"

"Already knows." Holly finished for him.

Artemis only nodded his agreement, suddenly taking an interest in the floorboards. That had started a fight. Holly had been furious, but when Artemis had finally gotten her to calm down and explained the situation, she had accepted it. They had made up, but Artemis still felt bad about the whole thing.

Holly lifted his chin with her hand, and smiled at him. "I'll stay, but Butler better be making vegetarian."

"Oh, yes. I'll just tell him to cancel the Christmas feast with the duck, turkey, chicken, pork, caviar-"

"I get the point, thank you." Holly cut him off again, holding a hand up to stop him, and the other on her stomach, which was trying to get over all of the animals that would be killed for dinner.

"Just making sure," Artemis smiled. "But I do need to go notify Butler that you are here. And to change the menu." He added.  
Holly only nodded her response. As Artemis walked to the door, he turned back to face her.

"Holly?"

"Yes?"

"Try not to break anything."

She smiled. "I'll try, but I'm not making any promises."

"That's good enough for me. I should be about ten minutes, entertain yourself until then."

As he walked out of view, Holly instantly studied the area. There was a long couch and two arm chairs in one corner of the room, which happened to be the one she had been occupying earlier. The walls were covered in book shelves, and at the other end of the room, a large desk sat. She walked over to it, and looked at all of the sheets of paper.  
One caught her eye, and she pulled it out of the folder that it was poking out of. It was a sketch, beautifully drawn of an acorn, two eyes in the center. She looked back at the desk and saw a picture of Artemis, then of her. She picked them up. Artemis looked cold and dark in his, but Holly's looked bright and cheerful. Then she realized that the drawing had been of their switched eyes, only instead of capturing just Artemis or just Holly's personality, the artist had captured both. That artist was Artemis. Holly suddenly felt like she shouldn't have been looking through his desk. She went to sit back on the couch but on the way, she saw a book that interested her, not only because she had never read it before, but because it was beyond her what Artemis would be doing with a picture book in his study…

* * *

_A/N: Oh, cliffie! Sorry about that, I couldn't help myself. _;)_ I don't really like this one as much as chapter one. My muse is slowly dying. And I don't really know where that sketch thing came from. I guess just fluff, whatever. I'll try to update when I can. Reviews?_


	3. Believing

_Just wanted to thank all of my reviewers. It means a lot to get feedback. So thank you and Happy Holidays._

_Disclaimer: I do not own him. Understand that and you're good to go._

**

* * *

Believing**

As Artemis climbed the stairs toward the kitchen, he could already smell the meats cooking. He sighed. The things he did for his friends. As he walked he started to whistle a Christmas tune that his mother had planted inside his head. His whistling stopped however when he pushed through the door to face a very powdery Butler. All he could do was raise an eyebrow.

"It, uh, the flour, uh," Butler looked down, ashamed to have his charge see him in his state. "The flour exploded."

Artemis smiled, and even let a chuckle slip. "It's okay Butler. I've come to inform you that Holly is here and she's staying for dinner."

Butler looked up at his charge. "So this," he gestured to the dozen simmering crock-pots surrounding them. "Is not needed?"

Artemis nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"So...McDonalds or Wendy's?"

"Butler."

"Fine, fine."

"Good, will you also please let mother know that Holly is visiting."

"Yes, your majesty."

Artemis ignored the jibe and made his way back up to his study, only to find Holly reading his brothers' picture book.

* * *

Holly was so engrossed in the book, that she didn't notice Artemis sneak into the room, and sit beside her. He stifled a chuckle, and made himself comfortable. After about five minutes of watching her, he made his presence known.

"You know I would have thought you would be interested in a different genre."

Holly jumped, tried to catch her balance again, failed miserably and fell to the floor.

"D'arvit! Artemis!"

Artemis only laughed.  
As Holly stood up, she realized that the book she was reading had flown halfway across the room. She walked over and picked it up. As she walked back to the couch, Artemis had gained control over his laughing, and was only smiling widely by the time she got back.

"Pleased with yourself are you?"

"Yes, actually. What were you doing reading Beckett's picture book?"

"I thought it was yours."

"Please, Holly," he took the book from her hands and shook it in front if his face for emphasis. "I wasn't interested in this rubbish when I was the twins' age."

"So it's not true then?"

Artemis laughed again. "You thought this was _true_? This is pure fiction, Holly."

"So there's no Sanata Clues then?"

"_Santa Claus_, and no, it's just an old myth." Then he looked thoughtful. "Holly, there's one way of telling the story of Santa Claus, and it says that he's an elf. Is there any actual story that could have been adopted by humans?"

Holly looked up at the ceiling while thinking. "What's the difference between this Santa Claus guy and the rest of the elves? If I remember correctly, that book said he has elves."

"Yes, that is part of the myth. The elves that make toys for the little girls and boys-"

"Artemis, this is no time for rhyming. What's the difference?"

"Well, he's supposed to be really…large, and taller than all of the other elves."

"Does he have any other names? This reminds me of something I learned in school. Like, Saint, Saint…"

"Saint Nick?"

"Yes! That's it, Saint Nicholas!"

"So there was an actual Saint Nicholas?"

"Yes. He was a rare breed. That's why you must've adopted that myth."

"What kind of rare breed?"

"He was half human, half elf. That would explain the height difference." Holly looked up at the ceiling as she thought.

"I didn't think it was allowed for humans and elves to get together." Artemis mused aloud.

"Yeah, it's not. But then again, do I follow the rules in my missions? You of all people should know, Arty that sometimes it's worth it to break some rules."

Artemis nodded. He knew alright. He had broken the rules enough to last a life time.

"So, then where did they get the toy making elves from?"

"Oh, come on Arty, you know that elves like spreading joy, and keeping the world at peace. Well, most do anyways. And if keeping the world at peace means putting some effort into _making toys for little girls and boys as_ you say, then I think I would do it."

Artemis tried to picture Holly in an elf suit… He couldn't.

"And as for him having power over them," Holly continued despite Artemis' sudden giggle fit. "Then, that could've been influenced by the _mesmer_."

Artemis replied, even though Holly hadn't been asking a question, mostly to regain composure. "Quite right, I would have to agree there."

"Yeah, well is that it?"

"What, that you just uncovered the truth in a myth that _I _had never even thought possible to be true? Yes, Holly. You receive a gold star for teaching me something that I did not know."

"Yay, me."

Artemis smirked. "Indeed. Yay, you."

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Artemis' computer _beeped _quite loudly. As they walked over to it, Artemis motioned for Holly to move out of the webcam's view. It was a video call from his father.

Artemis answered it to find the twins' noses stuffed into the screen.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS ARTEMIS!"

"Hello Myles, Beckett. Merry Christmas. Where's father?"

"Oh, he went to get some dinner. We found his laptop so we thought we'd call you, Artemis." Myles replied, as always fairly formal.

"Yeah, we wanted to know if you sent Santa our letters." Beckett added, not trying go be the least bit formal.

"Oh, yes I, I gave them to a very trustworthy mailman. I am sure he will get them to Santa Claus." Artemis gave Holly a quick glance. "In fact, I have one of his elves right here."

Holly's jaw dropped.

"Just one second, I will go fetch her."  
Artemis covered the webcam, and walked over to where Holly was sitting.

"I'm not doing it."

"Holly, they're five year old boys, do you know how thrilled they would be I introduced them to one of Santa's elves that would personally give the letter to him?"

"No, I don't."

"Come on Holly, have a heart. You said that you elves liked to spread joy. Give some to my brothers."

"Fine, but if this triggers something, you'll be reporting to Foaly personally."

Artemis shrugged as he pulled her over to the computer. "So be it."

Artemis removed the cover on the webcam to find the twins' noses pushed up against the screen again.  
Holly came onto the picture and their faces lit up.

"Hello, boys."

* * *

"So you're an actual elf?" Beckett was the first to come over his excitement.

"One hundred percent."

"And you know Artemis?"

"Yes sir."

"Are you his girlfriend?"

"No." Artemis could be seen blushing in the background.

"Will you deliver our letters to Santa?" Holly being Artemis' girlfriend was already a distant memory.

Holly didn't want to lie, so she looked to Artemis who nodded in response saying he'd put them in the mail. She turned back to the twins. "For sure."

Their faces lit up even brighter. "And do you remember what we wanted?"

"Ummm, refresh my memory will you?"

"Okay, I want…"

Fifteen minutes later Myles finished, and Beckett started.  
Once they were done, Artemis told them that they had tired Holly out, and that they had to go.

"And I thought _you_ were greedy." Holly said as she flopped down on the couch.

"Holly, they're rich five year olds. It's only natural." Artemis defended while he sat down beside her.

"I suppose…Artemis?"

"Yes?"

"Did you ever believe in Santa Claus?"

"No, never."

"But, why?"

"Because it was obvious; my parents are absolutely horrendous at being secretive. It's a wonder the twins still believe."

"But you believed in Fairies." Holly pointed out.

"True, but I had facts, and proof."

"But, didn't I just give you proof? We just figured out that Santa Claus _is_ real, or at least parts of him."

"I suppose. But, Holly that doesn't mean I have to believe in him."

"But why not?"

"Because, because _seeing_ is believing."

"But Artemis, if I was blind, doesn't that mean I couldn't believe in anything? That would mean that there was nothing that we can't see. Like wind. Or the rest of the universe. Or emotions. Just because you can't see something doesn't mean that it's not there. Seeing is not believing, or any of that crap. Believing is when you accept that something is real, even if there is no proof. It's having faith in something you cannot see."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that your five year old brothers are smarter than you, because they can believe in something without having to need proof that it's really there. Children aren't gullible because they believe, they're smart. Because they take the chance that no one else does to believe in the unordinary."

"Holly, that's rubbish, you know it."

"You don't know that Artemis."

"Oh, really? Prove it."

"Yes, did you know Foaly's friends with the Easter Bunny?"

* * *

_Yes, I know REALLY lame ending. It's all I could come up with. I think I fixed the spacing thing too, stupid computer. Anyways, Happy Holidays everyone. :)_


End file.
